Durankulak is a

prehistoric Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or recorded history, historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline ...

on the Big Island (''Golemiya ostrov'') in Durankulak lake, Bulgaria. Prehistoric settlement commenced on the small island approximately 7000 BP and lasted for thousands of years. The first inhabitants were the

Hamangia culture The Hamangia culture is a Late Neolithic archaeological culture of Dobruja (Romania and Bulgaria) between the Danube and the Black Sea and Muntenia in the south. It is named after the site of Baia-Hamangia, discovered in 1952 along Golovița La ...

, dated from the middle of the 6th millennium to the middle of 5th millennium BC, and were the first manifestation of the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

life in

Dobrudja Dobruja or Dobrudja (; or ''Dobrudža''; , or ; ; Dobrujan Tatar: ''Tomrîğa''; Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and ) is a Geography, geographical and historical region in Southeastern Europe that has been divided since the 19th century betw ...

. Hamangia people were small-scale cultivators and plant collectors who built houses, made pottery, herded and hunted animals. Around 4700/4600 BC the stone architecture was already in general use and became a characteristic phenomenon in the settlement that was unique in Europe. Durankulak lake was a well-organized aggregation of buildings of substantial size with several rooms. They were coherently laid out according to a plan that was repeated over successive generations of house reconstructions. Buildings were rectilinear and large, narrow paths separated individual houses, which stood alone or abutted by other buildings. The structures were robust and made of large wooden posts sunk into foundation trenches and joined with wooden planks or branches covered with mud or clay. In all building horizons, except for in the earliest ones, buildings were internally divided into separate, mainly rectilinear, rooms. Stone structures and bases from the houses are well preserved and there is a cave and some cisterns to see. Durankulak is one of few monuments left from early farming societies in Europe and tell us about daily life. The excavation in Durankulak took part between 1974 and 1997 when 1204 prehistoric burials were carefully recorded and the remains of 25 houses were found.Todorova, H. 2002a. Durankulak, Band II, die prähistorischen gräberfelder von Durankulak, Teil 1. Berlin-Sofia: Publ. House Anubis. Todorova H. 2002b. Durankulak, Band II, die prähistorischen gräberfelder von Durankulak, Teil 2. Berlin-Sofia: Publ. House Anubis. File:Durankulak-Golemija ostrov.JPG, Golemija ostrov (Big Island) and the Archeological site File:Sgrada 5 VII 96.jpg, Durankulak, eneolithic stone foundations File:Sofia - Skeleton from the Durankulak Necropolis.jpg, Burial at the Durankulak necropolis File:Durankulak-Visitor Center.jpg, Durankulak, Centrul de vizitatori from outside File:Durankulak-Visitor Center-2.jpg, Durankulak, Visitor Center, inside File:Durankulak. Interiorul Centrului pentru Vizitatori.jpg, Durankulak, Visitor Center, inside File:08 ENEOLIT-Ceramik.tif, Eneolithic ceramic vessels from the Golemja Ostrov Tell near Durankulak (RIM-Dobrich)

References

{{Reflist 1974 archaeological discoveries Prehistoric sites in Bulgaria Neolithic sites of Europe Chalcolithic sites of Europe Populated places established in the 6th millennium BC

See also

References